Phils Reign Supreme at Midseason

The Phillies tied a team record for 1st half wins (with the wacky '93 Phils) and enter the All-Star Break with baseball's best record: 57-34.

On Sunday, in dominating fashion, the Phils showed the Braves who's boss by annihilating their closest NL competition 14-1 behind a commanding Cole Hamels on the mound and a season-high 20-hit barrage at the plate.

Hamels (11-4) surrendered 3 hits, while notching 6 S.O. in 8 innings. He yielded 1 hit after the 2nd inning and retired the last 13 batters in-a-row.

“He threw a heck of a game,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said.

“He’s pretty tough,” Atlanta’s All-Star catcher Brian McCann said of Hamels. “You almost have to play perfect against him.”

The close proximity between his Sunday start and Tuesday's All-Star game ensures Hamels will be the 3rd of the 5 All-Star Phils who won't appear in the All-Star game, joining Polanco and Victorino (injuries) and leaving only Halladay and Lee available.

Most importantly, the Phils took 2-out-of-3 against both Boston (#1 in AL) and Atlanta (#2 in NL) during the final 12 days of the season's 1st half. That is a terrific confidence boost.

“This was a big series for us to win, it’s going to help our team,” Manuel said. “I think it helps us more than it hurts them. I know their team. They’re going to come back in the 2nd half and try to prove they’re better than we are. That’s baseball, and it should be that way.”

The crowd of 45,853 was the 172nd consecutive Citizens Bank Park sellout and 3rd-largest in the park's history. The joyous Philly fans performed a mocking Tomahawk Chop imitation of Turner Field Braves fans' traditional celebration.

“They’re a good team,” Braves pitcher Derek Lowe said. “Sometimes you have to say you got your butt beat.”

A closer look reveals this Phillies team is something even more magical than simply "good."

If it could have prophetically been forecast back in March that the Phils would lose 2 of their 5 starters, Oswalt and Blanton, pivotal relievers Lidge, Contreras and even (briefly) Madson, as well as position starters Utley, Victorino and Polanco for stretches of the 1st half, there would be no way of predicting the team would lead all of baseball in wins, which they have most of the year.

Whether it's the supremacy of Halladay (11-3, 2.45 ERA) and Hamels (11-4, 2.32 ERA) or surprise contributions from Worley (4-1, 2.20 ERA), Bastardo (3-0, 0.82 ERA), Stutes (3-1), Juan Perez (3 innings, 6 S.O.) and even Wilson Valdez (1-0), the pitcher's mound has been a golden island for baseball's best pitching staff thus-far in 2011.

Charlie Manuel and Phillies fans alike can only hope that Sunday's offensive onslaught is indication that there are surprises yet to come at the plate.

Raul Ibanez, who suffered career-low slumps throughout much of the 1st half of the season, completed a convincing series vs. Atlanta with 6 RBI on Sunday and his 2nd HR in the 3 games (Friday's was a walk-off), while John Mayberry Jr. (CF) had 3 doubles, 4 RBI and Michael Martinez (3B) collected 4 hits. Dominic Brown added 3 hits, and, suddenly, some of the run-scoring pep that fueled '08's title-run seemed to be aligning like the stars who dominated that team's bat-heavy highlight reels.

Still, reality check reveals that these Phils aren't floating into the Break on magic carpets. The Braves pitchers contributed to Sunday's one-sided hit-brigade fireworks just as much as the Phils' hitters did.

After all, Lowe (6 innings, 10 hits) had been shellacked in 7-of-9 games coming into the rubber game in Philadelphia. While his name still rings of the once-Boston Ace, his numbers (5-7) tell a different tale of fallen star. It's doubtful he would be on a post-season roster at all, should the Braves get there. Meanwhile, Jair Jurrjens (12-3) and Tim Hudson, starting pitchers who didn't appear in the weekend series in Philly, and Tommy Hanson (10-4), who held the Phils to 1 run on Saturday, certainly would.

Furthermore, Cory Gearrin and Scott Proctor, who surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits are hardly cream-of-the-crop Braves relievers. The Braves relief crew has posted an improved staff ERA in each of the last 4 seasons and Gearrin (6.61 ERA) and Proctor (5.79 ERA) are hemming, not helping that tide.

Still, it was a convincing show by a largely supportive cast of Phils, and it couldn't have come at a better time, with questions left unanswered as to whether this team can ring the Liberty Bell at the Bank enough times (Victorino is the only player hitting above .280) to bring home a 2nd championship in 4 years.

“Consistent offensive approach, definitely consistently is the key,” Manuel said. “We have the potential to do that and if we do that, with our pitching, then things are going to be really good for us.”

Since the Phils took 2-of-3 against them June 28-30, Boston has done it again, winning 9-of-10, entering the Break on a 6-game win streak and ranked #1 in baseball in Runs, Average, etc., representing a dark cloud on the Phils' horizon.

Still, the Phils beat them 2-of-3, without Halladay, so if there was a doubt to this team's depth or resilience, it should have been unequivocally answered in a record-tying 1st half rife with injury, yet decorated with victory.

The Phils will open the 2nd half Friday in N.Y. against the red-hot rival Mets (on an 11-6 run) and will have much to prove in a re-match of the '10 NLCS in Philadelphia July 26-28 vs. the defending World Champion S.F. Giants (who've regained 1st place by going 13-6 in their last 19 games).